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Halfway around the world in Australia, Woodstock resident Gunner Dunnett tinkered on large machinery, solving complex engine and electronic problems, for the 46th annual Caterpillar Dealer Top Apprentice Program. He finished the global competition as the winner for the North American region.
The five-day competition was held last month at the Caterpillar learning center in Melbourne, Australia, to showcase the top 10 Cat dealers technicians from around the world, including the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. It was Dunnett’s first time on an airplane and the first time leaving the U.S., he said.
“It was actually pretty neat,” Dunnett said. “It was one of the cooler cities I’ve ever been to.”
Caterpillar, also known as Cat, is the world’s largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives, according to its website.
The competition involved a public speaking presentation, quizzes on knowledge and “Olympic-style” stations of tasks like electronic, engine and hydraulic troubleshooting, excavator attachment set up, technical analysis and inspections and customer service.
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Dunnett, 22, was the overall winner of the ThinkBIG program, which is the North American division. He thanked his fellow competitors for “making the best out of each other.”
“You guys are going to have great careers and glad to see what your future brings,” he said at the award ceremony.
Mark Matthews, Dunnett’s mentor and instructor at Illinois Central College in East Peoria, was also there to see his big win. Matthews was one of Dunnett’s teachers from the Caterpillar ThinkBIG Program. The two-year program provides training and classroom learning for technicians to work at Caterpillar dealers.
“It’s amazing to see the skill set of the people that are here,” Matthews said at the award ceremony. “As much as we enjoy the competition as mentors, as participants, I also personally really love the relationships that are built here.”
Dunnett said he was born into working with large machinery, as his grandfather and his dad worked at gravel pits for an excavation company. Dunnett also works on restoring antique tractors with his dad as a hobby.
About two years ago, Dunnett stopped by construction equipment supplier Altorfer Cat in East Dundee to get a machinery part for an antique tractor he was restoring. He asked the manager about educational programs, where he was then introduced to the Caterpillar ThinkBIG program. Now he works at Altorfer.
“I was around machinery all my life, pretty much,” he said. “It was crazy because I went to go get parts and I end up finding my career.”
The global competition came after Dunnett won first place in the three-day National ThinkBIG Top Tech Challenge held in November in Peoria. He got into the national competition after beating the school record for the technician test, Dunnett said. The top three contestants from Peoria competition then advanced to Australia.
“I went into it thinking there was no way [I would win],” he said. “That was honestly for the same when I was in Australia. I was like, ‘Holy cow.’ I had a bunch of good stations, but then I had a couple bad stations. I don’t think I’m even close. I don’t know, I guess I was wrong both times.”